Publication details
- Author
- Michael Largo
- Publisher
- Piccadilly Press
- Published
- 1974
- Genre
- Poetry
About the book
Before the novels and long before the encyclopedias of mortality, Michael Largo was a poet. Nails in Soft Wood, published by Piccadilly Press in 1974, is his first published work, a collection of poetry that won him the Whiteside Poetry Award at Brooklyn College, where he studied under the legendary poet John Ashbery.
Every writer's first book is a record of who they were before the world knew them. This one shows a young writer from Staten Island, trained by one of the great American poets, already drawn to the hard image and the uncomfortable truth. The title alone could caption the whole catalog that followed.
It remains the rarest item on the Largo shelf, and the first evidence of the voice that would spend the next five decades finding the poetry in everything, including the obituary page.
Inside the book
Michael Largo's first published work, from 1974
Winner of the Whiteside Poetry Award at Brooklyn College
Written under the mentorship of poet John Ashbery
The earliest evidence of the Largo voice
Questions readers ask
What is Nails in Soft Wood?
It is Michael Largo's debut, a poetry collection published by Piccadilly Press in 1974. It won the Whiteside Poetry Award at Brooklyn College.
Did Michael Largo really study with John Ashbery?
Yes. Largo studied under John Ashbery at Brooklyn College, where this collection earned him the Whiteside Poetry Award.
Where can I buy Nails in Soft Wood?
The collection is long out of print and is the rarest item in the catalog. Contact the author through this site for availability.
What the numbers say
1974
Piccadilly Press
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Whiteside Poetry Award
About the author
Michael Largo
Michael Largo is a bestselling author of encyclopedic works exploring death, nature, and the macabre. His Bram Stoker Award-winning Final Exits established him as America's foremost chronicler of mortality.